'Work on Vishwamitri riverfront to begin soon'.

Work on the ambitious Vishwamitri riverfront project will begin soon. This is what state finance minister Saurabh Patel announced recently on sidelines of Vijay Vishwas Sammelan organized by BJP on the ground of Karelibaug Swaminarayan temple.

'The riverfront project for Vadodara has been approved by chief minister Anandiben Patel. The state government will soon start work on the project,' said Patel, while taking to media persons.

'A special purpose vehicle for implementation of the project will be formed and a complete survey will be done,' said Patel.

Earlier this year, during his budget speech, the finance minister had announced allocation of Rs. 50 crore for the project related works in Vadodara.

Patel said that apart from budgetary allocations, state government can also make special grants available for the project.

The riverfront project which is expected to see an investment of Rs 1,400 crore had received green signal in December last year. Vadodara Municipal Corporation had even removed slums with the project in mind.

The project proposal also includes re-sectioning of the river to ensure that it does not flood the city again. A major task that is expected to be taken up as a part of flood mitigation is that of integrating the river with ponds.

TOI